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le: The Surprising Science Behind Why We Yawn You're sitting in a meeting or a lecture, and suddenly you yawn. You try stealthily putting your hand over your mouth, but it's too late – the person next to you caught you mid-yawn. Everyone knows what a yawn looks like and what it feels like when you desperately need one, but not many people know the science behind why we yawn. Yawning is a reflex action that occurs in many animals, including humans. Our body shakes up our breathing and supplies more oxygen to our blood. It also helps cool down the brain by escaping heat from the head. There are many theories about why we yawn, but none of them are conclusive. One of the most evident is that we yawn when we're tired or bored. Studies have shown that when our brains are tired or overwhelmed, it can send a yawn to calm down. Similarly, when we're bored, our brains can get too relaxed, and the yawn serves to wake it up. Another concept is that we yawn when our body temperature is out of sync. When our body is cold, a yawn can help raise the temperature by sending more oxygen through the blood. On the other hand, when our body is overheated and we yawn, we're helping to cool down. Interestingly, yawning may also have a social function. Studies have shown that yawning may be contagious, meaning that when we see someone else yawning, we're more likely to yawn ourselves. One theory is that contagious yawning acts as a social cue, indicating that we're in a group and everyone is comfortable enough to let their guard down. Apart from being a natural phenomenon, yawning can also reveal information or provide a warning. For example, excessive yawning can indicate conditions like sleep apnea, or neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, stroke, and migraine headaches. On the other hand, infants yawning frequently is an indication that the baby is tired and needs to sleep. In conclusion, while we often take yawning as a given, there is much more to this reflex than we initially thought. Yawning is a physical response to several different triggers, including our internal body temperatures, tiredness, boredom, and even social cues. It may also act as a sign of underlying health issues, helping doctors and others to identify potential problems. So, embrace that yawn and know that it's just your body's way of taking care of you.